WoT: Auto Aim for Success

This just in: The sky is blue.WRT auto-aim and the RMB. I have found it convenient to re-map it to the MMB, because I often use RMB when popping in and out of cover so that my turret maintains its position. I'll fire off a shot, pull back, mouse wheel out and hold the RMB while I pan around to take stock of my situation as I reload. Before I re-mapped it, sometimes it would inconveniently activate auto-aim which does exactly the opposite of what I want. I want the gun to be facing where the target will be rather than where it is to minimize turret traverse dispersion.

That DISABLES auto aim.He means when he's using it, locked onto a tank. The only way to unlock the tank is to RMB off that tank. meaning you have to swing the cross hair off the target. That's pretty bad if you were disabling it so you could take an aimed shot.1337 commenter I guess.

ALSO TO NOTE: When using a very high-arc projectile (Tier 3 British TD Derp gun comes to mind), and can only see a sliver of an enemy tank over an obstacle, auto-aiming on that sliver (causing it to lock to their center) will fire your shot at the center of their tank, whereas if you did the same without auto aim it would fire at the rock/hill/etc. in your way. This allows for MUCH more accurate long-range shots against enemy tanks behind cover than manual aim.

So I've been suing T-50-2 for quite some time. I use auto-aim only when begin "orbiting" around artillery. Important note is that this works also for lower tier targets. For higher tier tanks specially Russian it's stupid to use it because your aim gets near the top of the fuselage and you get dings too often. My best solo heavy armour kill with t-50-2 is a King Tiger and because he was trying to turn both tracks and turret it was very hard for me to manoeuvre and shoot. So I tried to stay behind him all the time and used auto-aim when I saw that every shot was "in".tl;dr If it's soft target (arty; lower tier tanks) use auto aim if it's higher tier target don't use it!

The auto-aim feature in World of Tanks is bemoaned as easy mode - by those killed by it - and noob mode - by those driving heavy armor. This seldom used feature forces the tank to aim at the designated target's center point, and attempts to keep the aim there as the tank moves around. I’ve had people accuse me of using auto-aim when I wasn't, to which I've replied, “If your tank died to auto-aim, you’re driving it wrong.” This sentiment is one the community holds in general agreement, relegating normal use of auto-aim to players with poor response time or physical disability. I have since then seen the error of my ways, and I've discovered situations where auto-aim can be a useful tool.

It’s rather not good

Auto-aim will focus on the center point of your designated target and does not take into account any movement or armor considerations. Unless your target is presenting a flat side to you, this greatly increases the chance your shells will bounce. Manual aim allows consideration to be given to weak points - such as hatches and cupolas - and tactical targets - such as tracks, ammunition rack areas, and engines. Auto-aim just aims at the target and stands a good chance of impacting naturally or artificially angled armor.

Auto-aim also does not account for any movement in your tank or the target. If the target is immobile and your tank is carouseling, this won’t matter, but if the target is moving laterally it will not aim with the proper lead to hit. Forcing a better firing solution by driving toward or away from your target instead of across may help, but it makes you easier to hit as well.

Auto-aim is also tricky to turn on and off. It only requires a right mouse click on the target to engage, but the cursor must be unobstructed to do this. You cannot target a subject in hard cover unless you can find an exposed bit to aim at, as the silhouette will not suffice. Distant and small targets are also more difficult to target, as most of us are more used to clicking the left mouse button than the right, and thus our muscle control is more precise with the left button. Turning it off is considerably more difficult though, as it requires a lucky right mouse button click elsewhere. I write lucky because - much like Duck Tape - it is somewhat sticky once applied. Also, since holding the right mouse button will also lock the gun elevation and turret rotation, slips will sometimes engage auto-aim unintentionally.

Except when it is good

I never used auto-aim intentionally until I bought the T-50. I started testing it to leave me free to drive since the most important thing in an active scout tank is mobility, not shooting accuracy. After toying with it for a bit, I theorized it might correct an issue I was having with the ELC AMX that was limiting my ability to complete drive-by shootings. I seemed to miss a lot, even at point blank range when speeding by the target. Because of the turning radius of the tank, I couldn’t get any closer to the target than I was before peeling off or I’d hit it.